Bitcoin has dropped to its weakest level in roughly nine months, touching the $81,000 area and triggering heavy liquidations as investors reacted to rising geopolitical risk in the Middle East and renewed tariff threats from US President Donald Trump.

Bitcoin (BTC) briefly fell to $81,058 on Coinbase during early Friday trading, its lowest level since April, according to TradingView data. From its October peak near $126,000, the asset is now down roughly 35%.

Liquidation data from CoinGlass shows that around 270,000 traders were wiped out over the past 24 hours, with total liquidations reaching approximately $1.68 billion.

Long positions accounted for the overwhelming majority, representing about 93% of the total, with losses concentrated primarily in Bitcoin and Ether (ETH). Bitcoin has now reached a technically significant support area on the monthly chart, while the broader crypto market has seen roughly $200 billion erased from total market capitalization over the same period.

Geopolitical tensions and tariff threats pressure risk assets

The sell-off unfolded as the United States deployed another warship to the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran, with Trump confirming plans to engage diplomatically with Tehran. “We have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didn’t have to use them,” Trump told reporters Thursday.

Market unease was further amplified after Trump declared a national emergency and signed an executive order aimed at imposing tariffs on goods from countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba. The move added to concerns around global trade disruptions and economic spillovers.

Traditional safe-haven assets were not immune. Gold has declined roughly 9% from its recent all-time high near $5,600 per ounce, while silver has corrected by about 11.5%.

Tech earnings and AI concerns deepen the sell-off

Weakness in technology stocks also appears to have contributed to the broader market retreat. Jeff Mei, chief operations officer at crypto exchange BTSE, pointed to disappointing earnings from major tech firms as a key factor. “Last night’s market dip had a clear correlation to Microsoft’s earnings flop,” he said.

Microsoft shares plunged 10% on Thursday, marking their sharpest one-day decline since March 2020, following reports of record spending alongside slowing growth in cloud revenues.

“Investors are worried that a broader pullback in AI-related tech stocks will affect the market as a whole, and some are derisking their portfolios,” Mei added. “We think the dip was relatively overblown as cryptocurrencies have already declined since October, and that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies remain at an attractive price with limited downside.”

Sources:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/international-relations/trump-says-he-plans-to-talk-to-iran-while-pentagon-prepares-for-possible-action/ar-AA1VhOJW

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-falls-to-81k-causing-billions-in-liquidations

https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/BTCUSD/?exchange=COINBASE

https://www.coinglass.com/liquidations